Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: touch, feel, sense of touch, tactile sense, tactility, contact, using one's hands, sensation, sense, suspicion, sneaking suspicion, notion, inkling, hunch, fancy, apprehension, presentiment, premonition, foreboding, love, care, affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, warmness, emotion, sentiment, emotional state, compassion, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, understanding, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, tender-heartedness, brotherly love, sensibilities, sensitivities, self-esteem, ego, pride, opinion, belief, view, impression, intuition, instinct, estimation, guess, theory, hypothesis, thought, way of thinking, point of view, atmosphere, ambience, aura, air, mood, climate, character, overtone, undertone, tenor, spirit, quality, flavour, colour, aptitude, knack, flair, bent, talent, gift, skill, art, trick, faculty, ability, propensity, inclination, sensitive, warm, warm-hearted, tender, tender-hearted, caring, soft-hearted, sympathetic, compassionate, empathetic, responsive, receptive, intuitive, thoughtful

Antonyms: bad feeling, acrimony, animosity, animus, antagonism, antipathy, aversion, bitterness, detestation, disgust, dislike, disrelish, enmity, friction, grievances, grudges, hatred, hostility, loathing, malevolence, malice

Showing 4326 to 4350 of 4653 results

4326. God Laughs

Illustration

Cal Samra

... the end,” wrote Cox. “God’s laughter is not that of One who can safely chortle, from a safe distance, at another’s pain. It comes from One who has also felt the hunger pangs, the hurt of betrayal by friends, and the torturer’s touch. “Perhaps Easter Sunday provides us with the right occasion to reclaim the holy laughter that fell on Dante’s astonished ears as his steps drew near God’s dwelling place . . . Without a trace of irreverence, can we not also say there is something genuinely comic ...

4327. Satisfy the Soul

Illustration

King Duncan

... as he ate the fruit it turned to dust. No feeding of the body could satisfy the soul. Riding on, he found a gracious woman and a home. Surely the love of a woman and the sweet shelter of a home was what he wanted. He said, “But when I touched her, lo! she too, fell into dust and nothing, and the house became no better than a broken shed.” Only the Holy Grail could satisfy.

4328. How To Be Truly Happy

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... and thirst for righteousness . . .” That says to me that, if Jesus did indeed mean these teachings to be avenues to happiness, we need to know about them, understand them, make them our own. However, they seem to be completely out of touch with what we normally consider to be happiness. “Happy are the merciful . . .” “Happy are the pure in heart . . .” “Happy are the peacemakers . . .” “Happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake . . .” Jesus seems to go out of his way to ...

4329. Are You a Super-Fan?

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... little boys prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior that day. Gary was really pleased, but he was also a little skeptical. What chance did these kids have of turning their lives around? Would they always be street kids searching for their next high? Gary stayed in touch with the pastor in Nairobi and continued to support his ministry after he went back to New York. Five years after Gary’s visit there, a friend visited the church in Nairobi. He came back and said he had met a young man named Daniel Maina ...

4330. Educated Fear

Illustration

Carlos E. Wilton

... parachute regiment was accompanying some trainees on a night-time jump. He found himself seated next to a Lieutenant fresh out of Jump School. The Lieutenant looked a bit pale, and sat staring off into space. The sergeant leaned over and touched his arm. “Scared, Lieutenant?” “No,” said the young officer, “just a bit apprehensive.” “What’s the difference?” The lieutenant turned to him and answered, “The difference is, I’m scared with a university education.” Fear, in this life, is a ...

4331. Between Two Thieves

Illustration

Ken Harris

... , the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything. Both the banker and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly liked either of them. They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons ...

4332. Joy as Our Hallmark

Sermon

George Reed

... of God that cannot be defeated by any of these circumstances. It is learning to say with Saint Paul that we are content no matter what is happening. We can be quiet in worship because we are deep in contemplation or because we are so spiritually dead that nothing touches us. We can be exuberant with song and dance in worship because we are filled with the Spirit or because we are in a manic phase fueled by sugar and caffeine. But joy comes only from the reality of love. We experience it when we are loved by ...

4333. An Invitation That Went Astray

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... to get a phone call or text from a wrong number. We usually ignore it, or we text back a quick “wrong number” and we go on with our lives. But a few years ago, a story about a wrong number and a mistaken invitation went viral and touched many lives. On Nov. 15, 2016, Wanda Dench sent a group text to her family reminding them what time they would be celebrating Thanksgiving dinner at her house. She didn’t realize that one of her grandsons had changed his cell number, and so she accidentally sent the ...

4334. Trusting in the Goodness of God

Genesis 2:15-17, Genesis 3:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... not eat from any tree in the garden?” the serpent asked Eve. Eve answered, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” And immediately Satan saw his opening: “You will not certainly die,” said the serpent, contradicting God. “For God knows that when you eat fruit from that tree your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil ...

4335. You Are My Beloved

Mark 1:10-11

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... and depressed. They began fighting, and strife broke out. Tension and suspicion replaced the former trust and good will. Then one day, while some of the children were playing in a field, they stumbled onto a hidden cache of fuzzies. The tingle as they touched them felt wonderful. With delighted laughter they gave some to their friends. The more they gave away, the happier they felt. The adults soon noticed and remembered the good old days. Soon they joined the fun and brought out their fuzzies from hiding ...

4336. Second Sunday of Advent

John 4:1-26, Isaiah 51:1-16

Bulletin Aid

Heth H. Corl

... Father, who is able to create order out of chaos; wholeness out of brokenness; and life out of death: Come into the midst of our anguish and give light to our darkness, healing to our hurts, and hope to our despair. May we experience your healing touch through the presence of your Son, redeeming our life from defeat and destruction. We pray in His name. Amen. CONFESSION Lord, I know I ought to be happy and cheerful as Christmas gets nearer; but I find myself so upset with world conditions, the problems of ...

4337. Don't Give In

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... fruition. When the feelings of being tired or worn down come out, perhaps, just perhaps, it is time for me to double down my efforts, for all of us to double down our efforts. For who knows whether it will be me or you, or some other whose life we touch, who will be the tipping point that stops the wilderness experience forever and brings about the completion of the promise that God will finish what was begun in that wilderness long ago? I will not give in, I will not give in, I will not give in — I will ...

4338. Lost in Plain Sight

John 1:29-34, John 1:35-42

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... meaning beyond the mundane, day to day experience of it. We are, in other words, searching for the messiah, the anointed one of God, the savior who will save us from our boredom and our cynicism, our inauthenticity, our emptiness, our lack of aim and direction, and touch our hearts and our minds with meaning and purpose. We are searching for Jesus. And God, in his infinite love and wisdom, has given him to us freely. He is not lost or hidden like the city of “Z.” He is, like the radio waves that are ...

4339. Blessed

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... be sufficient. It is in knowing that we are in need of salvation that we can most authentically receive it. Certainly, this does not mean that the saying is not about the physically poor. It is about all of us, but the poor may be more in touch with their vulnerability than the rest of us. We who are wealthy and successful, comfortable in the midst of our possessions, tend to dismiss our need for God’s grace. This first beatitude reminds us that for all our seminary degrees and born again revelations, the ...

4340. The Call of the Wild Within

Genesis 12:10-20, Genesis 12:1-8, Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... shadowy places, through pitfalls, through deep waters, through the musty caverns of our uncharted souls. But we don’t go it alone. Our strength comes from the Lord. The Holy “Ghost” is that power and that presence that allows us to get in touch with, to connect with, to reclaim our spiritual, uniquely human nature. For we are all “ghosts,” shadows of the image of God. The quest for redemption is both an adventure and a perilous challenge. But no quest has ever been undertaken without significant ...

4341. The Surrogate

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the trenches. She cherished that ring, knowing that it held a hopeful future for the two of them, once the war would be over. It gave her hope that he would return home again safe and alive. It gave her a sense of security to look at it, to touch it, especially when she felt most worried. Many men who gave rings and other amulets to their lovers during that time of the bloodiest war in history never did come home. Those rings became not tokens of a future, but icons of a cherished memory. Not one of those ...

4342. By the Sea

Matthew 4:18-22, John 1:35-42, John 1:43-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... us and arise --often subconsciously—to affect our daily life. It’s a bit that way when you listen to the sounds of the sea, isn’t it? You can’t quite put your finger on it, but the sea has a way of calling you home, a way that touches your soul. Déjà vu. Have you ever experienced déjà vu before? A memory that feels oddly familiar? One that takes you back to a place you’ve experienced long ago? When you experience people, or tonalities, or food that remind you of your home where you grew up ...

4343. A Man Under Authority / A Centurion's Faith, An Elder's Love

Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of the Centurion, the Jewish elders urge Jesus to listen to the Centurion’s plea, in that he loves the Jewish people and had built their synagogue (no doubt funded it as Centurions could be quite wealthy). In both stories, the healing is done without having to touch the person in question. In the case of Naaman, Elisha tells him to wash in the Jordan 7 times, and he will be healed of leprosy. In the case of the Centurion’s request, Jesus doesn’t even come in to the house, but simply says, the servant ...

4344. The Proof is in the Roof

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... have had a strong voice one must think in order for so many people to be able to hear from outside the doorway. The crowd was obviously thick, and when four men came carrying their friend lying on a pallet (a bedroll on a wooden pallet) seeking Jesus’ healing touch, there was no way they could get through to the rabbi. Luke tells us, the power of the Lord was with Jesus that day to heal, and so it’s possible, he had already done some healing before the man appeared. But nothing compared to how he would ...

4345. Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 5:33-39, Luke 6:1-11, Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the most beautiful books in print: The Sabbath. He reminds us in it, “The Sabbath is a reminder of the two worlds –this world and the world to come.” “All week there is only hope to redemption. But when the Sabbath is entering the world, man is touched by a moment of actual redemption; as if for a moment the spirit of the Messiah moved over the face of the earth.” The Sabbath as metaphor is rich and filled with meaning. For Christians, Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath is a blaring sign of the Messiah ...

4346. Moving On

Luke 6:12-16, Luke 9:1-9, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: dusty bowl This bowl hasn’t been used in a long time. You can tell, because it’s covered in dust. It hasn’t been touched, cleaned, moved, because it’s been here in this church on this shelf a very long time. [You could also refer to something in a glass case or anything that has sat around for a while.] It’s not being used in ministry or worship. It isn’t something that ...

4347. The Death of John the Baptist

Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... telling or narrating the story. These may include anything from candles to a platter to rope to a sword. Having a prop, such as the platter, even as a display will lend a real-life feel to the story, and people will be able to identity and ‘touch’ the story in real and palpable ways. You could invite some of your people to bring their favorite platters to church and put them on display. From opera to hip-hop, music can lend a magnificent effect in bringing your narraphors to living color and surround ...

4348. Trust in Me

Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... our EQ, our Emotional Quotient and emotional intelligence. But very little time is spent talking about –or even acknowledging—our SQ (Spiritual Quotient), our spiritual intelligence. Did people in Jesus’ time have bigger SQs than we do? Doubtful. Were they more in touch with their intuition? Eh…maybe. I doubt it. Did they trust the Holy Spirit more? Sometimes perhaps. Did they respond to God’s call more? Nah! All ages are equidistant from eternity. But…..we DID record it when they did! It’s ...

4349. Lost

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Everything negative in a person’s life was attributed to sin, including illness, handicaps, flaws, or psychological issues. If you became ill, you must have done something bad to deserve it, they thought. Sinners were not to be consorted with, not to be touched, not to be befriended, definitely not to hang around with, almost as though “sin” were contagious. When Jesus tells his parables of those lost, he completely introduces a new concept of sin. In the case of the sheep, it had unknowingly wandered ...

4350. Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Why not? He belongs outside someone said. I see. Well,…..I’ve brought this fellow here today, because your reactions to Sandy here are pretty similar to the reactions that the Pharisees had to those whom they considered “unclean” in Jesus’ day. They didn’t want to touch him. They didn’t want to be near him. He didn’t smell very good. He didn’t look very good either. And ….I think many of them thought the best place for Lazarus was on the street. And that’s where our story begins today ...

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